The Last HopeRevised
by Shiho Yuki
Summary: AU Naruto, Sasuke, Neji, Gaara, Itachi and Haku. They each had their own broken childhood, their own pain and made their mistakes in life. Yet they walk on. This is their story. Completely different from my original fanfic from now on.
1. Chapter 1

The Last Hope-Revised

This is the revised version of my story the last hope as you can tell from the title… Contains spoilers up to chapter 367 including Yondaime's real name.

Summary: (Post Sasuke Retrieval) after failing to bring Sasuke back, Konoha blamed everything on Naruto. In blind anger, Naruto ran to the only place he could think of the Akatsuki! Gaara, after hearing the news joins his only friend. Neji, fallen into the hands of Orochimaru, learns the biggest secret of the Hyuuga clan.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and I am not making any money off of this. I also do not believe that I am violating any regulations.

"Speech"

'Thinking'

On to the story!

Flamez are welcome as long as they are not just none sense like "it sucks" or some thing like that... if you have to flame me, at least tell me why I suck!

Chapter1 Thoughts

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Naruto POV 

I've been running for the last three days, hoping that Konoha shinobi would not find me… For the hundredth time I asked my self why…. I gave Konoha the best I could… I defeated Gaara during the Suna attack… they gave the credit for that to Sasuke – teme. Even if that can be explained and blamed on my "dobe" façade, how can it be explained that after returning with a hole in my stomach from running after their precious hero, the last Uchiha, they only blamed me for his betrayal…. Some even suggested that I have forced him to go away so I'll have one less rival. How come that they can't see that if I wanted him gone, I could have ignored him when he left, instead of going after him and come back half dead.

And my so called sensei, Sasuke this, Sasuke that… to him Sasuke is the best, and everyone else is just invisible. I'm going to show him that I can and will surpass that that bastard Uchiha.

Sakura… Sakura, Sakura, Sakura, my silly childhood crush. I found myself not caring anymore. After all I did for her, including going after stupid Sasuke. She had the nerve to slap me after I come back with a hole in my stomach.

Stupid Konoha, stupid, stupid Konoha… the village I had sworn t protect. From now on, there will be no more, no more pretending to be the idiot, just so they can feel safe from Kyuubi. I will show them the true Naruto. I will show them the Yondaime's legacy. Yes, I know the truth about my stupid reckless, hero wannabe known as Namikaze Minato, who was ironically also my father…. I used to worship him, thinking he was a true hero. When I was six, that view changed. That was the first time I actually blacked out from an attack. I had met Kyuubi for the first time then. He told me everything. I still remember the shock I felt finding out that the hero that I so admired was in fact not only the father who abandoned me, but also the cause of all my misery. Kyuubi trained me since then, not wanting to die. With hellish training, I mastered our clan, the Namikaze clan's blood line limit, the tenshingan; once activated it allowed me unimaginable power. I also learned the Hiraishin, the technique that earned my baka father the name of the yellow flash of Konoha. Next to Kyuubi, no one knows that I have such a technique, a great element of surprise on my side. After all no ninja should show his true potential unless he must.

Now, all I have to do is to let Kyuubi work and hope that the Akatsuki finds me….

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Sasuke POV 

Stupid dobe, stupid, stupid dobe… hope he's ok. Why did that stupid loud mouth have to come after me? It's not like that I'm leaving forever…. Did he actually think I was going to join the hentai snake bastard? Unlike him I actually have an IQ! I'm only staying in that hell hole for two years and eight or nine month at max! If I still can not defeat Orochimaru then, I will have to run. I hope dobe didn't actually think that I would let that snake freak posses me.

I only left Konoha so I can get stronger; Orochimaru is desperate to have me, there's no other Uchiha left for him to choose. He'll have to keep me busy by giving me more techniques than I can finish, so I don't have anytime to re-think my decision. He'll also have to keep me happy in every way possible so I do not have any reason to even consider that Konoha is better than the Oto, by doing that he will be stepping right where I want him to. I will learn all I possibly can during the two years and nine month that I believe I am safe from possession, than I will kill him and go back to Konoha. Orochimaru's head and the status of "the Last Uchiha" should guarantee my acceptance back to the village.

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Gaara POV 

Naruto left Konoha…? That thought seems so implausible. The shinobi who fought me to the near death for a village who hates him left the very village he sworn to protect?

Where could that stupid loud boy have gone to…? I don't think right now any village would want to make an enemy of Konoha by hiding one of their missing nins. That leaves only one place… Akatsuki…. I must find him. He was the one who should me love. He made me realize that there are people out there who still care about me. … but how will I do that? I am no longer a genin, I am the Yondaime Kazekage. Suna needs me. Both Naruto and Suna are important to me; I do not wish to loose either.

Sigh…. But I suppose Naruto needs me more. He has no one else who will understand him. Suna has many capable shinobi, they will keep Suna safe.

Now I just have to convince Shukaku to look for Kyuubi for me... this'll take a while...

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Neji POV 

I can't believe it… I'm stuck in the snack nest… what is fate trying to tell me by doing this? Is it my destiny to be confined here for all eternity? No… I must find a way out!

So deep in thought, I did not realize that someone was approaching me until I heard a faint "kukukukuku…" lifting my head, I snarled, "Orochimaru…."

"Kukukukuku… now, now Neji, is that how you usually talk to your superiors?"

"You are no superior of mine!" I replied emotionlessly remembering rule 25. Emotion is a sign of weakness

"Now, really? Little Hyuuga, you are currently my prisoner; I think it's very obvious who is the superior here. By the way," Orochimaru said with a smirk on his face, "I know the biggest secret of your little clan … I'm the only one who knows it, and," he paused a little for the effect, "That little secret of the Hyuuga clan that actually involves you, Little Neji Hyuuga. Have I got your little attention yet?"

I looked up in surprise, expecting him to continue…

To be continued...

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Okay… done… nothing big was changed… just Yondaime's name and a couple people's personality… especially Gaara's. The bigger changes will not appear until chapter 4 or 5. I will try to revise the written parts very quickly and try to get the new parts out as soon as possible. Tahnks for sticking with me! 

Old readers of the unrevised version, please tell me if you like this one better. New reader… what do you think?

Well, gotta go… Shiho signing off!


	2. Chapter 2

The Last Hope-Revised

This is the revised version of my story the last hope as you can tell from the title… Contains spoilers up to chapter 367 including Yondaime's real name.

Summary: (Post Sasuke Retrieval) after failing to bring Sasuke back, Konoha blamed everything on Naruto. In blind anger, Naruto ran to the only place he could think of the Akatsuki! Gaara, after hearing the news joins his only friend. Neji, fallen into the hands of Orochimaru, earns the biggest secret of the Hyuuga clan.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and I am not making any money off of this

"Speech"

'Thinking'

On to the story!

Flamez are welcome as long as they are not just none sense like "it sucks" or some thing like that... if you have to flame me, at least tell me why I suck!

* * *

Orochimaru POV 

Yes… kukuku… I can see that right now little Hyuuga Neji-kun is giving me his undivided attention, After all, why wouldn't he? I'm about to tell him the biggest secret of his clan, one that he unknowingly plays quite a part in. Not only that, I'm the only one who know it… well, at least now I know the secret is definitely worth the two year effort that I put into. I already have little Uchiha Sasuke-kun, now, I will also get little Hyuuga Neji-kun to join me. Imagine… both the Sharingan and the Byakugan at my disposal Kukuku…

"Well, aren't you interested yet, Neji-kun?" I stalled, knowingly angering the little Hyuuga… ahh… young ones now days are so fun… kukuku… awww… little Hyuuga Neji is glaring now, how cute! Deciding to amuse myself, I continued, "Did you know that your father unknowingly helped to weaken the Hyuuga clan since the day he was born?" Ahh… Neji-kun is glaring again… guess I should end his misery.

"Before I tell you the secret," I started, "I should inform you of the true reason behind the existence of the seal of the Hyuuga branch clan. Unlike what you are led to believe, it does not solely just keep the branch clan in check, there is a special, spiritual reason behind it. The fore-father of the Hyuuga clan is just a normal person… until one day he accidentally saved a demon… the six tailed demon wolf, or Rokubi no Yoka. As a reward, the guardian of the earth and forest gave him a gift which eventually evolved into today's Byakugan and the Hyuuga clan doujustus. But there was also something else, and ultimate attack that is granted only to the eldest child of the main clan, and by eldest child, Rokubi no Yoka meant the first one to breathe the air of the earth which he guards."

At that point, I was rudely interrupted by the little Hyuuga. "What does that have to do with the Hyuuga branch clan seal again?"

Ignoring him, I continued, "However, Rokubi no Yoka made a mistake, as a demon, she did not know that human kind does not have nearly as much chakra as her. Even after the growth of strength in the Hyuuga clan, the ultimate attack of still requires too much chakra that event he legendary Utaku Hyuuga can only do it twice before fainting from chakra exhaustion. So normally, the leader of the Hyuuga clan would draw chakra via the curse seal." Ignoring the raged look on little Neji-kun's face, I continued, "Except for the clan head, the rest of the Hyuuga clan does not know of the this, they were only told to pass the position of clan head to the eldest child of the clan leader after he or she dies."

"Do you not know where I'm heading to now, little Neji?" ahhh the little Hyuuga is so very fun to tease. "Well, the birth of your father and uncle were a special one. Although they were not by all means the first pair of twins in the Hyuuga clan, but they were the first pair of twins in the main family. At the time of their birth you grandfather was already KIA because of an IWA ambush, your grandmother was also gravely injured. The twins were forced to come out after only six months of pregnancy. In fact they popped out together, one head first, one feet first."

Kukuku… ahhh… Neji-kun is finally seeing where I'm heading to, better finish the story before he interrupts.

I continued, "Anyone with even the faintest medical knowledge would know that it is very dangerous for a new born child to remain upside down, so the midwife first pulled out the child with the feet out. That boy, Neji, is your uncle, Hiashi Hyuuga. You are the Hyuuga clan genius; I believe you understand what I'm trying to say now, yes, Neji-kun? Kukuku… join me, Neji-kun….join me and I will teach you the ultimate attack of the Hyuuga clan, and I will remove that useless seal and give you a much better one."

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Neji POV 

What? ... Okay… no comment … pauses, rewind, play… it'd not possible, what game is Orochimaru trying to play with me? But what he said makes perfect sense, does that mean, does that mean, that the current leader of the Hyuuga clan is me? But… that's not possible, is that my true fate? What if it's true? How do I know that he isn't just lying so he could also possess the Byakugan?

With that in mind, I asked, "How do I know if this isn't just a plot for you to acquire the Byakugan?

Doing that creepy laugh again, Orochimaru answered, "Well, I assume that Tsunade has already told you that I was a member of the Akatsuki. I now tell you the reason behind my abandonment of the Akatsuki. during my mission to Iwa, I acquired the Rokubi but instead of returning it to the Akatsuki, I had hidden it. With my new seal, I will be able to seal Yoka inside of you and still not harm your chakra path way, you can even check with your Byakugan. With a demon inside, I will not be able to possess you.

Should I trust him? No, in this situation, joining him is the best choice. Even if he is lying, he will probably possess Sasuke before me. Agreeing to join him will not only open up so much more oppertunities but joining will also give a chance to show Sasuke taht he is better off in Konoha. Looking up, I said in the coolest voice I could manage, "I'll join for now, but you better keep up your end of the promise!"

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Orochimaru POV 

Kukuku… little Neji believed me… I shall have him wrapped around my finger just like Sasuke. Kukuku... while it's true that I can not possess a human while a demon is sealed inside, the seal I designed will allow the demon and the host to fuse in four years instead of the sixteen years required by Yondaime's seal. Kukuku… I shall have the Sharingan in three years and the Byakugan in six!

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General POV 

While Orochimaru was manipulating Neji's thoughts and actions, Gaara managed to convince Shukaku to lead him to Kyuubi. Turned out, it wasn'y nearly as much work as Gaara thought it would be. Convincing Shukaku to go after Kyuubi's scent wasn't hard at all considering that Shukaku, like all bijuus, sees Kyuubi as a god. Within three days the one tailed bijuu has found the nine tails.

Naruto was surprised by Gaara's appearance. Gaara's decision meant so much to Naruto. It reminded him that even if most people in Konoha despises him, there are still many people who truly loved him. With that, Naruto once again found the will to live get stronger for his precious people.

After a week of traveling with no direction, both bijuu simultaneously sensed a faint presence of youkai chakra, following the trail, Naruto and Gaara found them in front of the lair of the infamous Akatsuki. There to greet them was none other than Uchiha Itachi.

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Itachi POV 

Leader-sama was right when he said that Kyuubi and Shukaku will take the bait if they ever sense youkai scent. Smirking at my foolish outoto's best friend, I made a jerking movement signaling them to follow me.

I led them to the meeting room and told them to stay outside as I was instructed to. When I arrived, the meeting was over and all I heard was leader-sama saying to a misterious person, "I insist not extracting the bijuu simply because of one single reason. Uzumaki Naruto is the son of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina. The uproar in Konoha only confirms it. I hope you can understand my feelings and desperation to keep him alive. Also I keep his friend because I do not want to appear too suspicious in front of the other members."

Before I could ponder on why leader-sama seems to be answering to someone else instead of simply giving what he want as a order, he adressed me. "Itachi," he said in his usual unquestionable tone instead of the polite answering tone I heard him use just seconds before, "do inform the two jinchūriki that they have been accepted into the organization and will be placed under you. You are now responsible for all of their training. I will be personally checking their process. They will now serve as your parteners as Kisame is currently MIA. You are also to keep them updated to all the rules and regulations."

Training them myself? I can understand the ichibi as he is the Godaime Kazekage, but the Kyuubi is only a genin. Usually, the training of recruits his level is done by the replacement members. We usually don't even accept genins. Placing new recuits in active teams is also unheard of. Plus, why would leader-sama want to check a simple genin recruit's progress himself?

To be continued…

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Well, more changes in this chapter, I added the Akatsuki and decided to not make Itachi sound like he's on crack…. I understand that lots of readers liked the other Itachi, but I can no longer bring myself to imagine Itachi being silly, so he will remain serious. 

As for Gaara being the Godaime Kazekage... thanks to the Black Moon's Shadow for correcting me!

As I said in chapter one, old readers of the unrevised version, please tell me if you like this one better. New readers… what do you think?

Well, gotta go… Shiho signing off!


	3. Chapter 3

The Last Hope-Revised

This is the revised version of my story the last hope as you can tell from the title… Contains spoilers up to chapter 367 including Yondaime's real name.

Summary: (Post Sasuke Retrieval) after failing to bring Sasuke back, Konoha blamed everything on Naruto. In blind anger, Naruto ran to the only place he could think of the Akatsuki! Gaara, after hearing the news joins his only friend. Neji, fallen into the hands of Orochimaru, earns the biggest secret of the Hyuuga clan.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and I am not making any money off of this

"Speech"

'Thinking'

Flamez are welcome as long as they are not just none sense like "it sucks" or some thing like that... if you have to flame me, at least tell me why I suck!

My time skip version!

On to the story!

* * *

Chapter 3 Konoha 

Konoha Two years and eight months later

Jiraiya POV

It has been two years since the little brat left. Damn! I told Tsunade that we should tell everyone the truth about Naruto's heritage, if we did; Naruto would never have run away. At first I was naïve, counting on the ANBU to bring him back… but those useless retards couldn't even find a clue as to where he was. Now I think about it, they probably never tried. Well, three months later we found out. When Naruto showed up along with Gaara and Itachi in Kumogakure destroying over half of the rain village and taking their forbidden scroll… of course we found out. Two month later, Suna was attacked, their forbidden scroll was also taken, but nothing important was destroyed and no one died. Probably Gaara's doing. Those two attacks alone were able to earn Naruto a rank as an S-class missing Nin.

I cursed myself for my stupidity back then; of course they would be after those two scrolls. I was one of the few people who knew who Naruto's parents were. Uzumaki Kushina, Naruto's mother was from the former whirlpool village, now a part of the rain.

Well I guess we are at fault here… as harsh as the Akatsuki is, Naruto probably has a better time there then in Konoha. I still remember the faces of the elders when they discovered the identity of Naruto's father… that was hilarious! Back then I actually found the situation fairly amusing, not understanding the seriousness of desertion of the last member of such a prestigious clan.

It wasn't until around one month later did l realized that Naruto is serious on putting Konoha completely behind him. His name disappeared on the frog summon scroll. As a rule, a shinobi is only allowed two animal summon, once a shinobi sign a third scroll, they must choose which one of the other two he already signed he wants to keep. … That was when I finally realized that he is leaving Konoha for good. That was also when I realized that it was too late to bring Naruto back to Konoha

Minato… I'm sorry, I really am, I failed you as mentor, and I failed you as a friend…. I could not even keep your last heir safe.

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Kakashi POV 

Once again I'm standing in front of the memorial sight of my sensei; I started to visit here more and more frequently after finding out about Naruto's heritage. I did not realize until too late that I was being completely unfair to him, blaming him for the death of my sensei at the hands of Kyuubi. Then I found out, I found out the horrible truth that the innocent child that I blamed for the death of my sensei was actually the son of the same sensei of mine.

'Sensei, if you can hear me right now… please… please tell me what to do…. I failed you … I always said that people who abandon their comrades are worse that shit… but that was exactly what I did. I abandoned Naruto I favored of Sasuke thinking he needs more help since he is the last of his clan. But Naruto… he needed me even more, at least Sasuke had the rest of the village to look after him….'

I sighed. Since Naruto and Sasuke both became missing Nins, Tsunade-sama took Sakura as an apprentice and team seven broke up. I must have been the worst jounin sensei ever; with in half a year two of my three students became missing Nins… both are S-class too. I must have set a record, not that it's a record to be proud of. After that incident, the Hokage never asked me take on team again. I guess I wouldn't either; Konoha does not need any more missing Nins!

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Iruka POV 

The last three years were the worst time ever for Konoha since the Kyuubi attack. Especially two years and eight months ago, within two weeks, Konoha produced _three_ missing Nins. I should actually say_ three S-class missing_ Nins. Some villages don't even have 3 S-class missing Nins in their whole history, and we produced_ three _within two weeks, Naruto, Sasuke, and Neji.

I really wonder how none of us ever seen it, all three of them have enough problems for any psychologist to run away screaming. Now I think about it, I think a lot of people figured that they would snap one day. The thing we never suspected was the fact that they would all snap at the same time. Wincing, I remembered Naruto's little attack on the rain village, and Sasuke and Neji's attack on the Earth village a little less then a day later.

Glancing at the horizon and sighed. Naruto, the little brother I never had…. Tears leaked disregarding rule 25 as I softly uttered my many apologies. I should have protected him better; I should have spent more time with him; I should have consoled him after he failed to retrieve Sasuke.

Since the desertion Sasuke, Neji and Naruto, the relationship between all of the hidden villages became very strained. Now a war is near the horizon, just a few days ago we heard a rumor that the Akatsuki and the Oto is forming an alliance to attack Konoha. Since then Hokage-sama has been calling emergency meetings with the other villages. So far only Suna answered, the rest of the villages are still afraid of Konoha power and would rather watch us get destroyed. I sighed again. Don't they see that if Konoha falls, all of them would be next? Well, I suppose Konoha will be buying time for them by weakening the Akatsuki and the Oto.

* * *

Tsunade POV 

I sighed as I felt another migraine coming. Ever since the little hyper brat left, every thing went from bad to worse. And now the tension is about to snap anytime. Damn it, even now as a war is brewing, none of the other villages is even offering the slightest help, only Suna is still honorable enough to offer an alliance. Why did that stupid brat have to left? Now everything is beyond screwed up!

When Naruto left, none of the ANBU was obedient enough to actually offer to find him. Even when I ordered them to, they still kept on making excuses to not go. Some kind of loyalty to Konoha they have! I palmed my face as I remembered their panicked faces and wide eyed when I finally decided that I could no longer with hold the identity of Naruto's father. After I revealed that Minato was Naruto's father, the offer to go after Naruto rained into my office for the next week.

Three months later the majority of the Konoha population received the biggest shock since the Kyuubi attack. Out of the three most celebrated clans of Konoha, two of the head of the clan (Naruto and Sasuke) and the genius of the other one became missing nins; all at the same time. I remembered the horror of the atmosphere when Konoha received the news of the attack on the rain village and the earth village. It was absolutely horrible! Fingering the necklace I gave to Naruto that I found in his apartment after he left, I groaned… things weren't supposed to be like this! They weren't supposed to!

* * *

General POV 

Although for most of the shinobi of Konoha it was a normal day filled with the some old missions, the guards of the Konoha Gate could not say the same. Around mid morning, a parcel landed directly into one of the guarding towers. Being the trained shinobi they are, they had at first quickly threw it as far away as possible, gearing it was something explosive. After seeing nothing happened as it made contact with the forest grounds, an unlucky chunin was sent to investigate.

When the parcel was retrieved, the two of three chunin tested it for every possible type of trap while the other kept watch. After everyone is sure that nothing is wrong with the parcel, the same unlucky chunin was forced to open it. A head rolled out of the parcel as it was opened. It was not a normal head, instead of skin, it had what seemed like scales, long black hair was messily pointing outwards and instead of a neck, it had what seemed like a scaly sector of a snake. The three chunin knew on sight that the head belonged to no other than the snake Densetsu no Sannin, Orochimaru.

The guards wondered who would throw away something so valuable. After all, there is a bounty of 70 million ryou bounty on his head. (AN: I made the number up…. I figured that if Asuma is worth 35 million, Orochimaru should worth around double that.) Their question was answered soon as five people appeared right next to them. Looking up, the guards saw a pair of pupil-less green eyes, a pair of Byakugan, a pair of Tenshingan and two pairs of Sharingan. Unable to process what they are seeing, the guards did the only thing they could at the situation… they fainted.

To be continued

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So… how was that…. I hope you liked it! Nothing really changed form the POVs of Jiraiya, Kakashi, Iruka and Tsunade except for the tiny paragraph in Iruka's section. I was actually quite happy for that. 

The last bit was new… and I hope that you like it! Next chapter might be a little late, I have to word the weekend and school is starting soon... bu I promise that I shall make time for this story!

As I said in chapter one, old readers of the unrevised version, please tell me if you like this one better. New readers… what do you think?

Well, gotta go… Shiho signing off!


	4. Chapter 4

The Last Hope-Revised

This is the revised version of my story the last hope as you can tell from the title… Contains spoilers up to chapter 367 including Yondaime's real name.

Summary: (Post Sasuke Retrieval) after failing to bring Sasuke back, Konoha blamed everything on Naruto. In blind anger, Naruto ran to the only place he could think of the Akatsuki! Gaara, after hearing the news joins his only friend. Neji, fallen into the hands of Orochimaru, earns the biggest secret of the Hyuuga clan.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and I am not making any money off of this

"Speech"

'Thinking'

Flamez are welcome as long as they are not just none sense like "it sucks" or some thing like that... if you have to flame me, at least tell me why I suck!

On to the story!

* * *

Ch 4

General POV

The entire population of Konoha was in an uproar. The three "unfortunate" chunins found themselves to be the center of attention after the news of the return of four of the most infamous missing nins along with the Godaime Kazekage and the death of the notorious snake sanin spread thorough the village grape vine with amazing speed. In the chunin pub, the three chunin guards found themselves surrounded by others seeking information. The bar was for the first time graced with the presence of already promoted shinobi. Countless jounin including the famous copy-nin Kakashi was also at the bar waiting. Even the frog sanin Jiraiya showed up. Frustrated, the three chunin began to explain the events.

_Flashback_

Groaning, the three chunin sat up, cursing themselves for being so careless to black out on duty. What if they were attacked? Sitting up, they were surprised to see that the five "intruders" in fact was still there. The elder Uchiha smirked and said, "During my time, the gate guards were so much stronger." Although shacking with fear, the three chunin remembered their jobs and got ready to attack knowing that they can not win. Before they can do anything, they found a kunai at their throat each held by Namikaze Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke and Hyuuga Neji.

"We mean no harm," the former Uchiha ANBU stated, "Please inform the Hokage that we seek an audience."

_End Flashback_

As soon as the chunins were finished, the chunin pub was filled with chatter as everyone discussed the event, attempting to guess what the elder Uchiha wanted.

Main while at the Hokage tower…

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Tsunade POV 

I had at first thought that it was a prank when a flustered gate guard informed me that the two Uchihas, one Hyuuga, the former Godaime Kazekage and my precious otouto was at the gate seeking an audience along with Orochimaru's head no less. The guard however assured me that he was telling the truth. Agitated, I told the chunin, "Well, what are you waiting for? If they are really here, go tell them that I grant an audience immediately. If you are lying… then…" I left it at that. The guard should understand.

Palming my forehead, I tried my best to keep my serious face on while trying to figure out whether the guard was telling the truth and if so why the hell are they here. It was proven to be true soon enough. Two minutes later, the five of them had walked in and the younger Uchiha had a bloody parcel slugged over his shoulder. He was wearing was seemed like a mini Orochimaru outfit (just imagine the time skip version of Sasuke. I don't have time to describe everyone's clothing so except Naruto; everyone wears their time skip costume. Itachi does not have the Akatsuki cloak on. Naruto is wearing what Yondaime wore during his jounin days minus the jounin jacket.)

I admit that I was surprised. Uchiha Sasuke is in the same room with Uchiha Itachi and had not tried to kill him yet. I would have thought that they'd be ripping each other's throats out now, instead of just mildly glaring. Reminding myself that they were no longer Konoha shinobi, they are now missing nins and are wanted in all of the hidden villages except for Oto. Actually, if they had really killed Orochimaru, Oto probably wants them too now.

Clearing my throat, I put on my best mean; I'm going to kill you face and asked in my harshest voice, "What do I owe the presence of some of the most famous missing nins in the bingo book?"

The elder Uchiha had sent the younger a look signalling for him to start first.

"Tsunade-sama," Uchiha junior kneeled in a graceful fashion, "First, I must I apologize for all of the damage I might have caused Konoha and all of her allies. I know better then to ask for forgiveness but I offer to repentance for my crimes. I have, brought along with me the head of former Otokage and Konoha Sanin Orochimaru. I have killed him using the fact that he always keep me close to my advantage. My act will undoubtedly brought Konoha some time with the pending war with the Akatsuki and Oto alliance. Orochimaru was killed within the Akatsuki layer, his body still lay there as proof. Thus, the Akatsuki and Oto alliance is finished, and without Orochimaru, it is very likely that Oto will now disband. Please consider and accept my peace offering.

"Tsunade-sama," the Hyuuga kneeled the same fashions as the Uchiha junior, "if I recall correctly, the last mission I received as a Konoha shinobi was to retrieve Sasuke Uchiha from the hands of Orochimaru by all means. I believe that now I fulfilled that mission. I am of course aware of the fact that I did much damage to Konoha's forces during that mission. So in return for what I did, I offer all information that I uncovered during my time with Orochimaru, including much of the data on his experiments. Orochimaru, in order to assure me that he had not planned to take over my body, had given me data to many of his experiments that only Kabuto and he himself know. I am sure that Konoha can find useful information there."

Those smart little bastards…. They know that I can not turn them away. The counsel for one will most definitely not allow me turn away a Hyuuga and an Uchiha. Even if I do so anyways, I will be reviving Oto. I wouldn't put it pass them to blame Orochimaru's death on the Akatsuki and take over the sound army. After all, Orochimaru probably put either one of them or Kabuto as second in command for his forces.

Turing towards the Akatsuki three, I demanded, "What are you doing here then? Gaara, I have no authorization over you, Naruto, we'll talk later… but Itachi Uchiha, do explain what are you doing here and why is Sasuke not attacking you."

"Yes _oni-san_, you said that you had something that you will show me to prove that you did not murder our clan." The younger Uchiha interrupted.

Uchiha senior just threw a key on my desk and said, "Third drawer on the left." He was talking about the cabinet of all S-class information that was in the Hokage tower. Sliding the key in, I was surprised that the drawer slid right open. Except for the Hokage, the only person knows how to open a drawer in the cabinet is the person that the information directly relates to. It's usually a jutsu or blood seal, but a key? Checking a scroll I received the day I became Hokage, I was surprised to find that the drawer did in fact is one that's under Itachi's name. My eyes widened, the third drawer meant it was the third most important secret in the village. I know the first one is about Naruto, his father and Kyuubi, and the second one belonged to the leader of the Hyuuga clan, whoever s/he is at the time. That one's defective though, Hiashi still hasn't figured out how to open it, my scroll says blood, but it wont work.

Reading the scroll, I blanched. It turned out that the elder Uchiha was actually adopted from the branch clan of the Uchiha clan, chosen for his early show of talent. Fugaku Uchiha, power hungry like all clan heads, managed to some how find the Hachibi Orochi the eight headed snake and sealed it into Sasuke using Itachi's real father as the sacrifice. Later he plotted to take over Konoha by using the Uchiha branch clan. The plan was later discovered by Uchiha Shisui, who then told Itachi and offered to be killed so Fugaku could be stopped.

But when it comes to the Uchiha clan, nothing goes according to plan. For some reason or another Fugaku snapped and murdered his entire clan, Itachi did not arrive until too late and managed to kill Fugaku only to be walked in by his brother. After discussing the situation with the third, it was agreed that no one was to know the truth so Itachi can use his new status as an S-class missing nin to infiltrate the Akatsuki.

Sighing I looked at the scroll in shock. How was it possible that the existence of one of Konoha's most infamous missing-nin was only a hoax planned by the Sandaime? However, the signatures of ten ANBU, Sandaime himself and even Danzo of the Root of all people prove Itachi's innocence beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Smirking, I explained Itachi's situation to the younger Uchiha. I was very satisfied to see a shocked expression on his face. I guess I still hold a grudge against that little runt for putting a hole in my little brother's, no Naruto's stomach. I can't afford to still feel compassion for the little baka right now, no matter how much he reminds me of Dan (tell me if that's Tsunade's brother's name… I can't remember.)

Not really hearing the younger Uchiha's quiet murmur of "Is Hachibi the reason behind Orochimaru couldn't possess me and my ability to actually pull off the Kage-bushin training?" I turned to Minato's heir. I tied my best to sound stern and asked him, "What is your reason for returning to Konoha then… assuming that you are here because you want to return of course."

The runt gave me a foxy grin and said, "I had assumed that Konoha wanted me back from the "live only" bounty. If I'm not welcome, I'm sure that Pein will let me back into the Akatsuki, I'm his favourite "brat". After all, they are short on people now that Itachi and Garra deserted and Orochimaru bit it. It's also to my understanding that when I turn sixteen, I will fully absorb Kyuubi... Even though that they are in war, they are still looking for the Bijuu."

Sighing I just glared at him… the brat got himself a brain. Suddenly, I remembered something, Uchiha opening the drawer reminded me of the Hyuuga drawer… I asked Neji if he knows why the drawer won't open. Before I could remind myself that Neji is a branch clan member and probably has no idea what the hell I'm talking about, he stood up walked to the drawer, bit his thumb and opened it.

I stared at the Hyuuga in shock… the drawer can only be opened by the blood of the clan head… how the hell did _he_ open it! I then heard Neji softly say, "It seems that Orochimaru wasn't lying for once." Feeling a major headache coming up I looked at the group of missing-nins in front of me and asked, "Just how did you manage to kill Orochimaru and leave the Akatsuki base without notice?"

"Well, two weeks ago, Orochimaru showed up to finish the final confirmation of the Oto and Akatsuki alliance. He followed the conditions leader-sama had set and brought along Sasuke and Neji so they could be "watched" to make sure that Orochimaru follow the conditions of the agreement." Itachi had replied, "In return for monitoring Sasuke and Neji, Orochimaru had demanded that to be allowed to place the curse seal upon Naruto and Gaara."

"Wait…, you mean to tell me that the leader of the Akatsuki had allowed to have the curse seal upon its members?" I interrupted him, "and he allowed the seal to be put on Naruto and the sand brat?"

Ignoring the glaring former Kazekage, I looked at the elder Uchiha and indicated that I want to continue to hear his explanation. "While Naruto and Gaara were out from the seal, Neji and I carried out our plan. We have planned to assassinate Orochimaru ever since our arrival at Oto. Orochimaru was quite tired after putting on two consecutive curse seals on two jinchūriki and he was probably also plotting to see if he can gain to dobe's tenshingan or something like that. I had (insert what happened in the manga, I don't have time to explain.) I had wondered why that Orochimaru can't absorb me, the sharingan was only suppose to make sure that I copy the technique so I can fight back, but he wasn't able to hold me at all. Now I know that it's because of the bijuu." It was Sasuke who answered.

However, before I could answer, the elder Uchiha continued his tale, "Naruto and Gaara were never out cold. They only pretended to be out cold so our escape could be easier. Leader-sama has a weird for Naruto and he has access to much more Akatsuki information than anyone of us. He however is usually monitored tighter than anyone of us. By pretending to black out, he had used the fact that he was no longer tightly monitored and his knowledge of secret routes to the advantage of our escape. Sasuke and Neji had probably helped by distracting the guards with their Orochimaru incident. Later, the five of us had met on our way to Konoha.

"So, with an exception of Gaara, the rest of you are requesting re-enlistment. Itachi, you have never betrayed Konoha and sacrificed many years of your life for the sake of Konoha and was not forced to bear the name of a traitor without able to explain yourself. You are now promoted to head ANBU, from now on; you will be given the jurisdiction over all existing ANBU. Also from now on, you will be given the power to make decisions without following the normal chain of command and your decisions can not be overridden by anyone but myself or the existing Hokage. Nodding to Itachi's acceptance I continued, "Naruto, Sasuke and Neji, you do know that it will be extremely difficult to place you four, right? Two jinchūriki with curse seal and a curse seal bearer."

"Excuse-me Tsunade-sama," I was interrupted by Neji Hyuuga, "I have forgotten to mention that upon agreeing to join the Oto, Orochimaru had sealed the Rokubi no Yoka within me, thus making me also a jinchūriki."

Sighing I corrected myself, "It is difficult to place three curse seal bearing jinchuriki in any village force. Although you each had your reasons, you will still be punished, and here is my decision."

To be continued

* * *

Ok… sorry for the late update…. Upon the re-starting of school, my mother had limited my computer time to an hour per week, I will be updating quite slowly thanks to that. I will try to finish as much as I can using the school computer though. 

I had not planned to do this until chapter six, but as I might not have the time to plan much now school is in, I will be holding the vote early.

From the poll on my original version of the story, female Haku has held the lead by far for parings with Itachi. However, my fetish with yaoi had grown considerably, therefore I will give you the choice of making Haku either a girl or a boy… this poll will close next chapter because I have not planned to have the vote when I stared my revision.

I will also allow a vote on whether to put pairings with the Naruto, Sasuke, Neji and Gaara. Mind you, if pairings do win it will be NarutoXSasuke and GaaraXNeji. I do understand some people's dislike for yaoi which is why if more people are against the pairing, I will do this fic with pure friendship.

Well, that all! As before, old readers of the unrevised version, please tell me if you like this one better. New reader… what do you think?

Well, gotta go…

Shiho signing off!


	5. Chapter 5

The Last Hope-Revised

This is the revised version of my story the last hope as you can tell from the title… Contains spoilers up to chapter 367 including Yondaime's real name.

Summary: AU Naruto, Sasuke, Neji, Gaara, Itachi and Haku. They each had their own broken childhood, their own pain and made their mistakes in life. Yet they walk on. This is their story. Completely different from the original story fic from now on.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and I am not making any money off of this, therefore do not sue me!

"Speech"

'Thinking'

Flamez are welcome as long as they are not just none sense like "it sucks" or some thing like that... if you have to flame me, at least tell me why I suck!

On to the story!

* * *

Chapter 5 

General POV

Before Tsunade could announce her decision, she was interrupted by almost the entire Konoha clan counsel. Even Hiashi Hyuuga, who is more or less the head of the clan head after the Uchiha massacre showed up.

As the "leader" of the clan leaders, Hiashi spoke up first, "Tsunade-sama, Shodaime's law states that as long as all of the head agree on a certain matter, the Hokage must follow on that decision. The clan counsel has voted and has decided unanimously to allow the reenlistment of Uchiha Sasuke, Namikaze Naruto and Hyuuga Neji without the enforcing of any punishment."

Tsunade glared. "What about Uchiha Itachi?" Tsunade asked.

"Well," Hiashi replied, "that we will leave for Hokage-sama to decide."

Tsunade smirked, "Sly as usual Hiashi. As one of the ten ANBUs who signed THAT mission document, you knew from the beginning that he was going to be rewarded rather than punished. That's why you didn't bother right?"

Hiashi had just smirked. Tsunade sighed and explained Itachi's situation to the rest of the counsel member who looked lost. It causing yet another uproar. To the counsel, the return of the members of the three most powerful clans of Konoha is already an event that will up set the entire balance of the power, having Uchiha Itachi being innocent from the beginning will surely cause a scandal.

However, Hiashi was not focused on the whole Itachi incident; he was busy staring at the scroll in Neji's hands that bared the Hyuuga main familt seal and the lack of a branch clan seal on his forehead. Seeing his uncle's gaze Neji smirked and made an ever so slight jerking movement with his head. Hiashi being the very sly man he is realized that Neji does not want to talk about what is going on in front of all the clan heads of Konoha. After all, whatever that allowed Neji to access the Hyuuga clan scroll will probably cause another scandal in Konoha. it would be much less damaging if the Hyuuga clan were to be able to get some damage control done befre hand.

Meanwhile, the rest of the clan head have calmed down and Tsunade secretly smirked. While she had not planned on letting the three missing ninsgo free, she did not really want to punish Naruto, who despite everything was still a little brother to her. Outwardly putting on a very displeased mask, she said in what she hoped sounded like a displeased voice, "Fine, as the counsel has… requested, the three of you will be automatically put back into you former positions."

Seeing the relieved smirk on the trio's faces, she couldn't help feeing sadistic and has drawled, "While I m letting you three go scotch free, do realize that you are still genin by Konoha standard and your missions probably wont go higher than C ranked…. However, as everyone else your year has already been promoted to chunin or higher, you three are for now stuck on the same team. But you will probably enjoy that." Turning around, she faced Itachi and said in a slightly more apologetic voice, "Itachi, it seems like that your return to the ANBU is on hold. I'm putting you in charge of the "missing-nin team". You will be returning to your ANBU position when they," she cocked her head at the glaring trio of former S classed missing nins and continued, "become chunin in which they will automatically be drafted to the ANBU unit. You will then remain as their squad captain."

Although the elder Uchiha remained as stoic as ever, the trio had already started to protest.

"What? I had enough of Itachi in the Akatsuki…. He's a total slave driver!" Naruto whined.

"I won't work with him, although he had nothing to do with the clan massacre, I still don't like him." Sasuke spat, still not forgiving the elder Uchiha for sending him after an empty revenge.

"I refuse to be under the power of an Uchiha!" Neji snarled. Typical Hyuuga.

Before an Uchiha verses Hyuuga argument could break out, Tsunade stepped in. "You are lucky to have the opportunity to reenlist without any punishment. If anyone has the right to complain it's Itachi and he's not complaining so you shouldnt either. Do not act like real genin and complain about team assignments or I will reconsider the decision to immediately draft you three to ANBU as soon as you are made chunin." Ignoring the miffed looks of the trio for being compared with a mare genin, Tsunade faced the former Godaime Kazekage who was looking extremely bored having been pretty much ignored since arriving in Konoha. She continued in a much politer tone, being after all addressing a former kage, "Temari-san is currently in Konoha for a trade negotiation, please stay for a while and I will send for her as soon as our own matter in Konoha settle." The clan heads at that seems to finally realize that they had been rudely ignoring a very important individual and bowed or nodded to Gaara in unison.

Gaara nodded and replied, "Thank you Hokage-sama." He was finally shown some respect. As one the strongest shinobi in the current time, Gaara did not like the fact that he was treated as an invisible shinobi.

Thus the discussion in the Hokage tower was adjourned.

* * *

_Later, in the Hyuuga district…_

Currently the entire Hyuuga clan is in an uproar. The clan was already extremely surprised at the return of the clan genius, when he returned with the Hyuuga clan top secret scroll that Hiashi had failed time after time to secure, pandemonium occurred. Neji had repeated what Orochimaru told him almost three years ago after everyone had finally settled down, but his revelation had once again caused an upheaval. After Neji had been asked to repeat the story eighteen times and having proved time after time that he is capable of opening the blood seal on the scroll, the Hyuuga elder counsel was forced to admit that Neji was indeed the true head of the Hyuuga clan. This sent the entire clan into chaos.

After securing the spot as clan head, the first thing Neji did was ordering the removal of the cursed seal on all of the branch members of the clan. However, Hiashi still had the chair on the clan counsel as Neji was not yet sixteen which was the bottom line age to be on the counsel. Neji trusted Hiashi. After all, Hiashi was the person his father had trusted with the mission to bring the clan together.

* * *

_Two weeks later_

It was two weeks after the reenlistment of four of Konoha's most notorious missing nins, and everything was somewhat calmer. The return of the newly dubbed "missing nin team" had caused quite the commotion and the sudden change of the head of the Hyuuga clan caused the team to be the center of everyone's discussion.

Although their skills were more than enough for jounin level, the team being genin still was stuck doing D ranked missions. If they were lucky they sometimes were granted C ranked ones. To them however, the missions held no difference, all of the mission were easy enough that they can do them half asleep.

To the other shinobi it is some what comical to watch the four former S classed missing nins doing D ranked missions; especially when they were made to 'capture' the cat of the wife of the Fire Lord. Anyone would imagine that the sight of four teenage shinobi who are able to make even the toughest, most seasoned shinobi back down chasing a cat is amusing indeed. Poor, poor cat…

The team themselves though, couldn't help but to envy Gaara. Upon returning to Suna, he was immediately declared ANBU and was put in to the position of successor to the new Rokudaime Kazekage, which just happens to be Baki. The team couldn't help but to curse Gaara's luck. Well, Gaara was the Godaime Kazekage when he defected and they were only genin. It was normal that when Gaara returned that he will end up in a position of power, especially since Konoha did not punish their missing nins up returning.

After the return of Itachi, Naruto, Sasuke and Neji, and the death of Orochimaru, the balance of the war was suddenly tipped in favour of Konoha. The other villages almost tripped over themselves to get an alliance treaty signed with Konoha. Right now, in the Hokage tower, Tsunade is expecting the Godaime Mizukage of Kiri, who had insisted on being neutral ever since over throwing the corrupt Yondaime two years ago.

* * *

Hokage Tower 

Tsunade in the traditional Hokage robes seated patiently for once in her life to wait for the Mizukage. She knew that this treaty can secure the war for Konoha. Kiri is going at an insane rate ever since the Mizukage established the new trading system. Behind her, sat the entire Konoha clan counsel that represented the shinobi and the elder counsel that represented the civilians, their votes will decide whether the treaty will pass. Itachi was also present as he was currently taking the position as the Uchiha head as Sasuke is not old enough. The rest of the 'missing nin team' was also present because they were after all, part of the reason that many nations are now signing treaties with Konoha.

Everyone in the room tensed as a member of the squad of 'escorting ANBU' came back announcing the arrival of the Godaime Mizukage. Shortly after a shinobi in the green and white Mizukage robes and a thin veil pulled across the face (imagine Gaara's dad and replace the blue with the green) walked into the room followed by two teenage boys and a teenage girl. Tsunade was about to start on the standard greeting, she was interrupted by two loud clangs.

Turning around she saw that Sasuke and Neji had stood up from their position. She caught an ever so slight flash of surprise across their face before they arranged their facial expressions blank. "Suigetsu, Karin, and Jugo; what a surprise." Sasuke said in his usual monotone, raising an eyebrow.

Jugo smiled nervously and Karin blushed. Suigetsu just snorted and retorted, "Oh, we are not the only ones you know. Right, _Mizukage-sama_?" drawling out the last bit.

"Suigetsu is correct," a serene voice confirmed. When the Mizukage removed his veil, Naruto jumped out of his chair and exclaimed on the top of his lungs, "Haku!"

Tsunade sighed, what now? Claming herself she asked "Is it me or is there anyone else that is also feeling lost."

To her surprise it was not her shinobi but the Mizukage himself answered. "Both Uzumaki-san, oh I apologize, Namikaze-san and Uchiha-san has met on their first C rank later A rank mission. Back then I was working with Kirigakure no Kijin Momochi Zabuza-sama. If I'm not mistaken, we have also met, Hokage-sama."

Puzzled, Tsunade struggled to remember exactly had she encountered the Mizukage. Not remembering no matter how hard she tried, Tsunade asked, "Oh, is that so Mizukage-sama?"

"Hai," Haku replied, "I believe we have met in the wave country, I was injured then. I believe you even helped to cure me."

"Wait," Tsunade blurted, "You are that little girl I met?" She regretted it the instant later. It sounded extremely rude.

"What?" She heard Naruto burst, "you are a girl?" (Hey majority rule, Haku stays as a girl as planned)

Before she could reprimand Naruto for being rude to such an important person, Haku interrupted. "It's ok, when we first met at wave I was indeed pretending to be a girl. No harm done. I dress up as a boy most of the time anyways." It seems that Haku was as nice as ever.

"Alright," Tsunade let out a breath of relief, "now if you two," she turned to Sasuke and Neji, "would explain about how you know the other three."

"Well," Sasuke replied, "They were also Orochimaru's 'subjects'. I believe Neji freed them when I fighting Orochimaru as they were also brought to the Akatsuki base as a part of the elite team of the sound." Seeing the skeptical look sent their way, Neji quickly added, "We believed that they also had a possibility of taking over the sound army and is a great to the Oto side."

The elder counsel went into an uproar at that. They refused to continue negotiations with the former subordinates of a traitor. The shinobi clan counsel was much more understanding as in the shinobi world, it is common knowledge that someone who's you ally today can become the enemy the next and vice versa. Thus, they broke into an argument.

It took a while for Tsunade to calm down both counsels aided with Itachi's death glare that held the promise of suffering.

Sighing, Tsunade pressed on "That still does not explain how they ended up in Kiri and became what seems like the Mizukage's personal guard squad."

She was met with silence before Suigetsu answered, "They don't know that. As the former student of Zabuza, I had wanted to acquire his zanbatō. I dragged Jugo and Karin to the wave for the sword and ran into Haku here. She thought that I was a grave robber and we fought. She ended up winning though. Since she was also a former student of Zabuza she had offered us a position as elite guard to Mizukage after assessing all of our skills. We had no where to go anyways so we accepted."

She then turned around and once again glared at Sasuke and Neji, "Well, the part that you freed those three was certainly not in your re-enlistment repot." A vein popped on her head when Sasuke just replied, "That had nothing to do with the Oto and Akatuski's plan or the death of Orochimaru that you requested us to report on. I didn't think that it was going to be important." She palmed her forehead. Those former missing nins are going to be the death of her one day.

"Alright," she continued, "now that all that is out of the way, let the meeting commence"

To be continued…

* * *

You will notice that I have in fact changed the summary. From this chapter on, the story will be mostly different from the original one…. Some things might remain the same, but most will be different. 

I really apologize for the extreme delay of putting up this story. My teachers are giving me a lot of work and my mother is no longer supporting my fan fiction writing as my English provincial mark was extremely low by my standard. I think she blames my fan fiction writing. So right now my computer is locked and I can't break in. Currently, I can only write this story at my school library which doesn't have word, meaning I have no spell check, making my story writing process so much more painful. Here, I will apologize for the possible drop in writing skill as I'm currently working with out a spelling or grammar check.

Also, was the Haku being Mizukage thing cliché? I hope not. It was a spur of the moment thing.

Anyways, the decision of yaoi or no yaoi is still up to you. It's currently unanimous to do yaoi though… yay!

Well, sorry for the delay and have a good day!

Shiho signing off!


	6. Chapter 6

The Last Hope-Revised

This is the revised version of my story the last hope as you can tell from the title… Contains spoilers up to chapter 367 including Yondaime's real name.

Summary: AU Naruto, Sasuke, Neji, Gaara, Itachi and Haku. They each had their own broken childhood, their own pain and made their mistakes in life. Yet they walk on. This is their story. Completely different from the original story fic from now on.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and I am not making any money off of thistherefore do not sue me!

"Speech"

'Thinking'

Flamez are welcome as long as they are not just none sense like "it sucks" or some thing like that... if you have to flame me, at least tell me why I suck!

On to the story!

* * *

Chapter six 

The meeting between the two Kages did not go well by any standard. Although the shinobi counsel had unanimously agreed to the treaty propose by Haku, Kiri's alliance in exchange for tariff free trade for the entire duration of the war and four years after, the elder counsel did not agree. After all, many of the elders are tied in various economical circles and a tariff trade will cost much loss in their profits.

Of course, the loss of profit was not their reason for disagreeing with the truce. During times of war, any reason concerning economy will go ignored in favour of troops. The elders knew that, therefore they attacked something that they know the shinobi counsel will not be able to brush off easily, the loyalty and the trustworthiness of former missing nins who were once enemies of Konoha. Naturally, when questioning this aspect, the elders made sure to phrase around the factor of the newly reinstated "missing-nin team". Even the elder counsel understood that Konoha can not afford to loose a Namikaze, a Hyuuga and an Uchiha in the current situation.

Suigetsu, Karin, and Jugo used to be minions of Orochimaru. Unlike Sasuke and Neji, their reason of following Orochimaru was unknown and they had no pass record to show that they are dependable shinobi. Haku herself was a great setback. Kirigakure no KijinMomochi Zabuza did not have a great reputation in the shinobi world to say in the least. Haku's stability of mind and reliability was greatly questioned.

The shinobi counsel and the elder counsel had broken into a huge argument after that. As the counsels aren't making any progress, Tsunade decided to end the negotiations for the day and gave all the personnel involved two days off. She did so in hopes that the shinobi counsel and the civilian counsel would be able to make a deal under the tables during the break. It was, after all, not good for Konoha's reputation to show such disagreement in front of a foreign leader.

* * *

For Itachi, the break was exactly the thing that he needed. Because although he has already told Sasuke the truth about the Uchiha massacre, their relationship hasn't gotten any better. True, Sasuke moved back into the Uchiha compound and hasn't tried to kill Itachi since he found out the truth, but the younger Uchiha was constantly giving the elder the cold shoulder. He also never talked to Itachi unless it was required, why; sometimes the elder Uchiha even caught the younger glaring venomously at him for the briefest moments (which is saying much as the younger Uchiha has not been showing much emotion since returning to Konoha.) Frankly, Itachi doesn't understand why his little brother still seem to hate him, and their lack of positive interaction or any interaction in their case was not helping the building tension under the same roof. 

Using the break they had been given and Sasuke's lack of excuse to his advantage, Itachi cornered Sasuke after dinner that day.

"Sasuke," Itachi said putting down the bowl and chopsticks he was holding, "stay, I need to talk to you."

Raising an eyebrow, the younger Uchiha asked in the same monotonous voice he had been using around Itachi (and everyone else) since returning to Konoha, "Is this an order or is this personal?"

"This is not an order," Itachi replied, "but I am hoping that you would stay…"

Sasuke did not wait until Itachi finished before rising form his seat to leave. However, Itachi blocked the doorway, expecting that his younger brother would try to leave.

Sasuke sighed "make it quick." He said, crossing his arms.

Sensing the younger shinobi's impatience, Itachi decided to get straight to business, "I was wondering why you still seem to hate me, even though that you now know the truth behind the clan massacre.

"Is that all?" questioned Sasuke, he did not bother to wit for the answer before trying to get through the door Itachi blocked

When Sasuke found that Itachi was not going to budge, he turned around and sat down at the table and replied, "Then, let's just see who lasts longer." Before proceeding to stare Itachi expressionlessly.

After ten awkward minutes of tense silence, Itachi walked towards Sasuke and a hand on his shoulder. Almost immediately, Sasuke reacted and slapped the hand away and almost snarled in a slightly panicked voice, "Don't touch me!" showing more emotion than the whole entire two weeks he spent in Konoha,

Surprised, Itachi moved his hand.

Shaking slightly with wide, almost unfocused eyes, Sasuke snapped, "Fine!" emotions kept under control for almost three entire years finally released ever so slightly.

"If you must know," Sasuke continued, "you are right, I'm still mad at you. Even though you did not massacre our clan, has it ever occurred to you to tell me the truth regarding the massacre? Did you have any idea what sort mental damage can happen to a six year old who thinks that his elder brother killed his entire clan? Has it ever to you that the same boy would be willing to sacrifice just about anything he has in order to hunt down his elder brother who in fact did not do anything? Did you ever realize that you will be creating a completely false goal and living purpose for that six year old boy?"

Sasuke paused in the middle of his rant and stared at the wide eyed Itachi before continuing in a much calmer voice, "I was willing, willing to give anything to defeat and kill you to avenge our clan. I gave up all my emotions, making sure that nothing will distract me from my sole purpose for living. To defeat I even tried to kill my best friend. I even sank low enough that I allowed that pedophilic snake to bed in exchange for power and information. I gave up almost everything short of my own life."

Sasuke pause and shivered slightly in disgust of himself before schooling his features back to its regular neutrality and reverting back to his old monotonous voice while walking towards the door that Itachi was no longer guarding. "As a shinobi, I know and understand you devotion to Konoha and the need of secrecy for your mission, but did you ever realize that your actions will not only affect Konoha but also around you? As a shinobi you have a duty to this village, but as a person you have a duty to your precious people. I realized that far too late, but you don't seem to have realized it."

Itachi did not try to stop Sasuke from leaving. Sasuke was not at the Uchiha compound for the rest of the break. Itachi did not try to find his either. He spent the entire two days pondering on Sasuke's parting words.

* * *

Two days later… at the Hokage tower 

After the two day break, everyone was calmer and the negotiations restarted again. Sasuke despite of not being home for the two days, showed up to the meeting on time. But his lack of presence at the Uchiha compound was not missed by both of the counsel.

When Sasuke showed up at the tower, the first thing the civilian counsel did was to demand a reason for his absence. They had thought that Sasuke had spend the two days with Karin Suigetsu and Jugo and in doing so formed some sort of plan with them.

However, the counsel immediately silenced at Itachi's silent glare Naruto's reply of, "He was with me."

Luckily Sasuke showed up early and the display was seen by neither Tsunade nor anyone from Kiri so a big explosion of temper was avoided.

The negotiations restarted again as soon as both Tsunade and Haku's group showed up again. Although both Kages were not present for the little show of temper before the negotiations, much of the shinobi counsel caught that event and within the shinobi counsel a plan that might solve the disagreement between the counsels regarding the issue of loyalty.

While the center members of the shinobi counsel plotted their plan, the negotiations were still in stalemate, much of the same argument as two days ago was still getting thrown around. The "missing-nin team" was getting very bored so was Haku's "bodyguards". They were there for show after all as they were too young to claim their seat on the shinobi counsel and Itachi although technically holds the chair of the Uchiha clan in the counsel was disregarded as he quote from the civilian counsel "is no longer aware of Konoha's current position after prolonged absence."

Just as Tsunade was about to dismiss the meeting as hung, the representative of the shinobi counsel stood up. The shinobi counsel representative is usually the chair of the Uchiha clan, the Hyuuga clan, or the Namikaze clan. Due to the Namikaze clan's chair was empty due to Naruto's age (and the lack of heir before Naruto's heritage was revealed) and Itachi's "inability to attend", the representative was suppose to be Hiashi Hyuuga (who still holds the chair as Neji is too young), however because of the Hyuuga scandal, another member was asked to take over for the time being. The current representative happens to be Shikamaru's father, Shikaku Nara.

"How troublesome…," he mumbled as he read the report on the shinobi counsel's suggestion, "ok…? You gotta be kidding me, he'll never agree."

Seeing the glaring eyes of the civilian counsel, the Hokage, the Kiri group, the "missing-nin team", and the uninvolved members of the shinobi counsel (such as Hiashi who has lost a sizable portion of his political influence due to loosing his position of clan head, and small clans such as the Inuzuka and the Aburame.) he cleared his throat before reporting, "the shinobi counsel propose that we eliminate the possibility of Kiri defection by having the Mizukage marrying into a Konoha clan. The shinobi also propose that the husband to be Uchiha Sasuke.

* * *

To be continued… 

What would you do if I really did that…? Well, I decided to not be so mean after failing to update for so long.

* * *

Shikaku's words were met by complete uproar. 

Most of the civilian counsel objected by saying that such an action will only promote more chance of defection.

Sasuke knocked his chair over in his haste to stand up and snarled venomously, "Not going to happen!"

Haku choked on her tea and stared at Shikaku with wide eyes as if thinking that he had just played a big prank.

Karin, Jugo and Suigetsu stared at Shikaku thinking that he's mad.

There was also Naruto snorted and chortled, "Let's see you get out of this one Sasuke-teme!"

Sensing the danger of an argument breaking out, Tsunade quickly snapped out of her own shock and called the meeting to order and signaling Shikaku to continue.

"How troublesome," Shikaku sighed and continued, "well, the counsel reasons that marriage for a period of time has been used to bind deals, so is the best way to secure the alliance. However, if we want someone like the Mizukage to marry into a Konoha clan, only the Namikaze, the Hyuuga and the Uchiha are worthy. As the "population" of the Uchiha and the Namikaze clans' populations are currently low, it's only logical to choose between the two. However, the Tenshingan requires a very specific genetic structure while the Sharingan can be much more flexible when mixed with anotherKekkei genkai, therefore the Uchiha is a better choice. The counsel also feels that Uchiha Itachi has sacrificed enough for Konoha, therefore choosing Uchiha Sasuke. This marriage will also bond Uchiha Sasuke tighter to Konoha, nullifying another of the civilian counsel's fears.

This is met by Sasuke's indignant, "I'm no one's breeding fodder!" However, his protest was met by deaf ears as the uninvolved portion of shinobi counsel broke into argument with the involved portion. Haku's group has also left the room to deliberate on their choice.

At this point, the civilian counsel decided to take some time to discuss the new development among themselves. The new development was not in their favour, if Haku agrees to marry into the Uchiha clan, then they would loose their only reason to prevent the loss of a big portion of their income. Also, if Sasuke agrees to accept the arranged marriage, then he would be in position to take leadership in the shinobi counsel and the advantage over the shinobi counsel due to Hiashi Hyuuga's loss of the Hyuuga clan leadership would mean nothing. The shinobi counsel would be in position to gain back their advantage over the civilian counsel. Since at this point, there's no strong argument against a marriage of Haku into a strong Konoha clan, their only bet would be that Haku refuses. Even if Uchiha Sasuke does not like the proposal, there will other potential clan leaders who will be more than willing to wed a former Mizukage to achieve power that will be next to impossible to obtain otherwise.

At this point of their discussion, a member of the civilian counsel proposed the possibility of stick Uchiha Itachi as the potential husband instead. It was already common knowledge at that time that Uchiha Itachi was in fact only a member of the Uchiha branch clan and therefore would not be able to hold a seat in the shinobi for any longer than it take Uchiha Sasuke to turn sixteen. Also, from Uchiha Itachi's history of obedience of Sandaime's extreme self sacrificing mission, he would be an easy pawn to control. Also, Itachi is currently a front contender for the position of Rokudaime Hokage, there he would not be lacking in the status too much for the Mizukage.

So, the civilian counsel proposed their opinion of using Uchiha Itachi instead with the reason that they don't trust Uchiha Sasuke to insure the loyalty of Kiri when his own loyalty is in question. With this decision, they unknowing sealed their own fate. Uchiha Itachi was not pawn, at least any more.

With the time the civilian counsel took to put in their own opinion, Haku was back. She took a deep breath and said in her most neutral voice, "I agree with Konoha's terms on the terms that for four years after the war, Kiri not only want a tariff free trade, but also protection for Kiri if there is ever an invasion. Of course Kiri will do the same for those four years. Also, for as long as I am married into Konoha, Konoha must not provoke a war with Kiri unless Kiri does so first. I also wish at least a week before the wedding to choose my successor to the Mizukage title."

Before anyone could object Tsunade quickly cut in and agreed to the deal. Both counsel quieted as they really have nothing to say against those terms. Everyone's eyes turned to Itachi; his decision could make and break the deal.

After a moment of silence, Itachi sighed and said, "I will agree."

* * *

After the meeting, Sasuke caught up to Itachi. Looking straight into Itachi's eyes he sighed, "I'm disappointed." 

Itachi smiled, "No, I did not agree because I thought it was beneficial to Konoha. If I hadn't agreed to it, the counsel would force you into that marriage. I destroyed childhood, Sasuke, but in return, I promise that I make sure that you get to live the rest you life to your liking. You were right about my responsibilities to my precious people, and out of all my precious people, you are the most precious."

To be continued…

* * *

This time it's for real…. I'm really sorry for the late update but I'm having a bad case of writer's blocker. This one's extra long to make up for the lateness. I have to say that I'm not all that happy with it, but I decided to not keep you people waiting. I think I'm playing too much on the human greed, but I really can't think of anything else.

Next chapter is the wedding and the rest of the rookie nine and the team Gai will finally show up. I might start on the chunin exam on the rest chapter too. Well, I'm really tight on time so I can't say much more.

Right, I've decided to take off the voting on the pairings, I want the story to flow naturally and pairing might constrict the flow. I'm also looking for a beta... Any volunteers?

Next update might be another few months; I apologize in advance… so sorry. My thanks to all my loyal readers who are still sticking with me after such a long absence

Shiho signing off!


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